Yarn package



Aug. 14, 1962 v. s. VAN scoY YARN PACKAGE Filed Dec. 4, 1959 il l i I I llllllllLllllllIllll lllllllllllllllm ilnited rates hatent Q 3,949,230 YARN PACKAGE Victor S. Van Scoy, Newark, Del, assignor to E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, DeL, a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 4, 1959, Ser. No. 857,436 4 Claims. (Cl. 206-64) This invention relates generally to the production of yarn and, more particularly, to the packaging of multiple ends for shipment, storage or handling.

It is conventional practice to wind multiple ends simultaneously to a beam on which the ends remain for shipment or storage and until such time as they are to be unwound. Although the use of beams in handling yarn has proved highly satisfactory in most respects, there are several disadvantages such as the impracticability of clearing ringers which develop as the ends are unwound, the space required for beam storage, the amount of the investment in beams and beam-handling equipment, and the cost of shipping beams to and from a point of use.

The most important object of the present invention is the provision of a bale type yarn package which substantially avoids many of the disadvantages encountered with beams and, at the same time, facilitates the expeditious handling of multiple yarn ends.

A further important object is to provide a flat single end package which is adapted for use in such a bale.

With these and other objects in mind, the bale type package of the present invention comprises generally a number of flat packages which are stacked and bound in the form of a bale. Each fiat package consists of a single end of yarn formed into a plurality of successive loops disposed and stacked in superimposed relationship.

Additional objectives will become apparent in the following specification wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a partial perspective view of an apparatus which may be employed in winding the fiat packages of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the manner in which flat packages are stacked in the preparation of a bale type package;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a finished bale, parts having been broken away to reveal the disposition of the individual packages; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 are side and end views, respectively, of a fiat package.

The apparatus of FIG. 1 is useful in winding the fiat packages of the present invention. The apparatus embodiment chosen for illustration includes a pair of posts It 12 which are mounted in spaced relationship on a base '14. Each of the posts 19, 12 has thereon a button 16 by means of which a plurality of pins 18 may be retracted. Base '14 is normally held in place on a platform (not shown) which moves downwardly step-by-step as a package is built. The winding apparatus also includes a belt 20 which rides on pulleys 22, 24 and is provided with a thread guide 26. A yarn end 28 passes from a second thread guide 3t? through guide 26, with guide 30 being located well above the upper limits of travel of posts 10, 12. Surrounding each of the posts 10, 12, there is a stationary guide 32 on which rests another guide 34. Each glide 32 is supported from the apparatus frame by a bar 33.

The apparatus is made ready for operation by positioning the platform supporting base 14 at the upper end of its path of travel and by threading a yarn end 28 through guide 26 and then around the posts 10, 12. As noted previously, the lower guides 32 are stationary whereas the upper guides 34 merely rest thereon. As pulley 22 is driven, belt 20 carries guide 26 in the elliptical amazso Patented Aug. 14, 1962 ice path of the belt. Guides 32, 34 function to stabilize the axially traveling yarn and to position successive loops between the same sets of pins 18. After the required amount of yarn has been wound between the two bottom sets of pins 18, base 14 is stepped downwardly and yarn is Wound in the next adjacent space. This procedure is followed until the spaces between all the pins have been filled.

When the fiat package has been built, base 14 is removed and held over the foot 36 of a carrier 38 on which a pair of L-shaped supports '40, 42 have been positioned. When the package is properly positioned on carrier 38, the buttons d6 are displaced to retract all of the pins 18 and the posts 10, 12 are withdrawn so as to leave a fiat unsupported package resting on support 40. When the desired number of packages have been stacked between supports 40, 42, another pair of supports 41, 43 (see FIG. 3) is located in protetcive relationship to the stacked flat packages and the assembly is placed under compression. The assembly is also wrapped in suitable protective paper 44 and bound with a plurality of bale straps 46. These operations may be accomplished in any suitable baling mechanism.

A flat package of the type which is wound on the apparatus of FIG. 1 and stacked as shown in FIG. 2 has been designated with the numeral 50 in FIGS. 4 and 5. Such a package consists of a single end or length of yarn which has been formed into a plurality of successive loops disposed in stacked and superimposed relationship. Al though it is not apparent when viewing one of the packages, the yarn is Wound in a plurality of sections each corresponding to the distance between a pair of pins 18. In each section, the first loops are on the inner side of the package and the succeeding loops are wound thereon. Thus, there are inner, center and outer loops in each of a plurality of sections, with the last loop of each section leading to the first loop of the succeeding section. The application of a small amount of size material, e.g., polyvinyl alcohol, to the yarn as it is wound will produce a self-supporting package after the size dries.

It is apparent, therefore, that the bale type, multiple end package of FIG. 3 includes the L-shaped supports 40- 43, a number of flat packages stacked therebetween, a conventional wrapper 44, and a number of straps 46 circumscribing the assembly.

When a bale type package is to be placed in use, the Wrapper 44, straps 46 and supports 41, 43 are removed, and that side of the bale having the individual yarn ends terminating in an inner loop is placed adjacent the guide device through which the multiple ends pass during the unwinding operation. In the illustrated embodiment, the flat packages are loaded by holding base 14 above carrier 38 so that the most recently wound section of the package will be at the bottom of the bale, i.e., resting on supports 49, 42. In view of the make up of the individual packages they are unwound from the inside out, section by section, and disappear simultaneously as the back vw'nding progresses. Thus, there is little or no disturbance of the yarn in the next adjacent packages. In the event of a ringer or other yarn defect, the whole process may be stopped and the ringer cleared or straightened out without affecting the condition of adjacent yarn ends. By way of contrast, once a ringer condition develops, it persists through the remainder of a beam. The bale type pack age, accordingly, is Well suited for use in the shipment of zero twist yarn.

A ringer is a ring or band of filaments that surrounds the beam and interferes with the unwinding of adjacent yarn ends. Such a condition develops when one or more filaments in an end fails to unwind from the beam, strips back from that end, and remains on the beam.

The multiple end packages disclosed herein have spe- 'rewinding to -tubes or the like. a fabric, the use of preshrunk yarns reduces the shrinkage cific utility in several situations where difiiculty has been encountered in the use of "beams. For example, where heavy denier yarn is supplied to the rope industry, the multiple ends can be shrunk to equilibrium in the bale before being processed in the plant. This will eliminate the need for shrinking the yarn in the rope manufacturing process and will at the same time result in a high degree of uniformity in such factors as the elongation at break value. Where yarn is to be preshrunk before or after shipment to a mill, this can be accomplished by steaming the bales in an autoclave instead of following the expensive procedure of Winding to skeins, steam shrinking, and Where the end product is requirements in the finishing operations.

age to equilibrium in the bale results in improved uniformity in dyeing.

'In addition to the advantages previously mentioned, use of the bales disclosed herein eliminates'the substantial investment in beams and substantially simplifies the shipment and storage of yarn. Generally speaking, such a package incorporates the major advantages of conventional yarn beams and, at the same time, does away with a number of the disadvantages. It is apparent that many changes and modifications may be made in the disclosed packages and winding apparatus without departing from the spirit of the present invention which is therefore intended to be limited only by the scope'of the appended claims.

I claim: I 1 A flat, unsupported single end y-arn package consisting of a length of yarn formed into a plurality of successive elongated loopsdisposed in stacked, abutting, indistinguishable sections with each section consisting of a number of superimposed loops, the terminal loop in each section leading directly to-an inner loop of the succeeding section, saidsections being dimensionally uniform, said package having substantially flat and co-planar outer surfaces.

, 2. A multiple end'ya rnpackage comprising: a number of individual, unsupported, stacked, flat packages, each package consisting of a single yarn end formed into a plurality of successive elongated loops disposed in stacked, abutting sections with each section consisting of a plurality of superimposed loops, the terminal loop in each section leading directly into and forming a part of the initial loop of the succeeding section, said sections having substantially uniform length, width and thickness dimern sions, said flat packages being dimensionally uniform and having substantially co-planar outer surfaces; and strap means circumscribing the supports and flat packages for holding the latter in the form of a bale.

4. A flat, single end yarn package comprising a continuous length of yarn arranged in a plurality of abutting sections, each section comprising a plurality of superimposed elongated loops, the terminal loop of each section leading directly to the initial loop of the succeeding section, said length of yarn being disposed only in loops in 'any pair of succeeding sections of the package, the latter having substantially flat, uninterrupted and co-planar outer surfaces, said sections and the boundaries therebetween being substantially indistinguishable in the package.

References fiited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 710,937 Baker 'Oct. 14, 1902 1,495,174 Harmon May 27, 1924 1,883,449 Andrews Oct. 18, 1932 2,117,997 Taylor May 17, 1938 2,204,869 Schenck June 18, 1940 2,206,915 Ochs July 9, 1940 

